Disclaimer: I am in no way responsible for the brilliant creation of the major Slayers characters, or the Slayers world in general. I am simply…borrowing them, but in no way intend to financially benefit from the use of said characters/world. I am also very poor, so please don't sue.
Note 1: This is an A/Z fic, written by an Amelia supporter. Everyone is completely entitled to their opinion, but if you are not an Amelia or A/Z fan, then I suspect you would be happier reading something else. Live and let live, yes? That said, constructive criticism is more than welcome. I am trying as much as possible to keep the Slayers gang in character, but I'm also trying to allow for character growth and the passage of time. It's a tough balancing act, and I'd love to hear how you think I'm doing. I've tried to stick to cannon as far as possible, but naturally I'll have to use a little artistic license to fill in any gaps an so forth, and I hope you will like the end result. This is my first fic, so please play nice.
Note 2: SPOILER WARNING: this fic is set post-TRY, though the plot happens to rely a lot more an events towards the end of NEXT. There will be big spoilers for both seasons. If you haven't seen them already, I do heartily recommend them (though I humbly maintain that the subtitled versions are far superior).
Note 3: I've stuck to writing in English and English only (as opposed to inserting various Japanese words/phrases) with two major exceptions: the use of the –san suffix, and the word "Mazoku". Here follows a two-second tutorial for the newcomer: -san is a mild honorific added to the end of a name when addressing a stranger or someone older than yourself. Using –san is considered good manners. Amelia, for example, generally refers to Lina as Lina-san in the original Japanese. This is often translated into English by prefixing Mister or Miss (eg, "Miss Lina" rather than just "Lina") but there really isn't a direct translation, so I have chosen to use the –san.
About "Mazoku": In the Slayers world, there is a difference between an ordinary "monster" (that is, nasty/annoying but otherwise flesh-and-blood creature) and those referred to in the English translation as the "Monster race" with a capital "M". The proper Japanese word for the latter is Mazoku, to distinguish them from "ordinary" baddies because these Mazoku are actually a lot more analogous to what we'd call Demons—ie, primarily non-physical beings of (supposedly) pure evil. To avoid confusion and maintain the distinction between ordinary monsters and these "demons," I will use Mazoku when referring to the so-called "Monster race". These include Xellos, Gaav, etc.
Okay—that should do it. Enough previews! On to the feature presentation!
Prologue: Two Spheres
"Hear me, fiend who dwells in the heart of darkness!" (EP 11)
The girl watched as the pair of living spheres swooped in and began to circle the small band of warriors, taunting them, mocking them. Anytime one of the warriors tried to attack them, the grey sphere absorbed it, and the red sphere would follow, darting out to strike back. "You can't get us," they seemed to say—circling, circling— these 'inanimate' objects somehow managing to be smug. The girl had had enough.
She had never considered herself to be anything much. She was the youngest of the group—not quite so young as she looked, but still small. The other sorceress' magic was stronger in battle (black magic always did have better attacks) and the girl herself had no competence with weapons to match the other two warriors—the powerful, chivalrous blonde, and the quiet, haunted sorcerer-swordsman for whom the girl's eyes held a particular light. No, she wasn't much…but it was time.
Curling her hands into fists, she summoned her magic with a cry of "Visfarank!" and barreled forward to meet the foe. The magic concentrated around her fists and she stuck ferociously, catching the spheres by surprise. Her comrades were incredulous—who would dream of attacking an honest-to-the-gods Mazoku with her bare hands? The very idea seemed crazy, but…gods preserve them, it was working! She charged on valiantly, driving the first sphere back relentlessly. As amazing as the display was, the edge of surprise wasn't going to last, for the spheres were more troublesome than they looked. The second sorceress speculated that it might be most effective to hit both spheres at the same time, whereupon the slighter, beige-cloaked swordsman channeled magic into his blade and, with careful timing, sprang upon the remaining sphere, once again sharing a triumph with his small, black-haired partner as the spheres exploded into plumes of dust. When the dust settled, the champions were revealed, and she grinned over at him, raising a hand in celebration.
"Victory!" she shouted with joy, encountering both delight and battle with her whole heart. He started to grin back, but just then there came a half-felt astral ripple. His eyes widened. It was behind her—!
"Amelia!" The sleeping figure next to the dying campfire snapped awake with a shout. Zelgadis sat bolt upright, then remained as he was for several seconds, breathing hard, the dream-images still fading. Finally, with a heavy sigh, he rubbed stone-skinned hands across his stone-skinned face and shook his head. He stretched out a hand to where he'd set down his traveling gear and snagged his canteen, taking a swallow of water to help calm himself. After he replaced the lid, he looked at an object looped around the canteen's neck, gently tracing his fingers along the length of pink ribbon. Amelia's bracelet…. He sighed again, wondering where she was now, what she was doing. Probably at home, tending to all her official duties, he guessed.
He lay back down. He had always been rather nightmare-prone…well, ever since that fateful day when he'd been changed…. Originally, all of his nightmares had been about that, but lately other past events had started coming back in his dreams. Usually the nightmares faded once he'd spent some time in the company of his few friends, but they always returned again when he set off on his own. It had been months since he'd seen those friends last, and with a sigh he recognized that many months more lay ahead.